Kylian Mbappe endured a frustrating night in front of goal as Real Madrid squandered several chances before the Frenchman’s late penalty miss compounded their misery in a 1-0 defeat to Real Betis.
Real Madrid had enough opportunities to take control of the contest, but Mbappe repeatedly failed to convert openings that could have changed the outcome.
The forward was involved in several dangerous moments, beginning with a shot from the edge of the box in the 24th minute that was blocked by a Betis defender.
His frustration continued shortly before half-time when he saw two efforts from inside the area blocked in quick succession. First, his first-time strike was bravely stopped by a defender before his follow-up from the rebound was also blocked.
Mbappe had another opportunity almost immediately after the restart, but his effort from the edge of the box narrowly missed the right post.
The clearest opportunity came in the 68th minute when Mbappe collected a pass inside the penalty area and fired a low shot towards the middle of the goal, only for Betis goalkeeper Alvaro Valles to make the save.
Despite Madrid’s missed opportunities, Betis eventually broke the deadlock in the 81st minute. Troy Parrott reacted quickest to a rebound inside the box and fired into the middle of the goal to put the hosts ahead.
Madrid appeared to have rescued a point six minutes later when Carlos Espi produced a spectacular scissor-kick finish to make it 1-1, but VAR subsequently overturned the goal for offside in the build-up.
Then came Mbappe’s biggest miss of the night.
With Real Madrid awarded a penalty in the fourth minute of stoppage time, Mbappe stepped up with the chance to level the match. He sent his effort towards the bottom-left corner, but Valles produced an excellent save to deny him.
The miss effectively ended Madrid’s hopes of salvaging a result, with Betis surviving the remaining minutes to secure a 1-0 victory.
